Kelly
Nicholson’s new book ‘Hitters, Dancers and Ring Magicians’
has been in the works for quite a while. In fact, I saw a
nearly completed manuscript for it six years ago. But,
having now read the finished product I can see that the
additional time it’s taken to get it into print has been put
to good use digging up many more interesting facts. Dan
Cuoco, the Director of the International Boxing Research
Organization, provided the foreward, and as he say’s, Kelly
begins by providing the reader with a historical context of
the sport from the late 19th century, and then follows that
with seven chapters that are effectively mini-biographies of
fighters who exemplified the strength and spirit of the game
during the period of 1890 to 1910.

That period of time was filled with not only a multitude of
great fighters, but a number of extremely colorful
characters as well. The men that Kelly chose to focus on in
this 216-page soft cover book are in order: George “Kid”
Lavigne, Bob Fitzsimmons, “Barbados” Joe Walcott, Joe Gans,
Terry McGovern, Sam Langford and Stanley Ketchel. I agree
with Dan’s statement that any selection of a few men as
being the best or the most destructive of their time will
invite argument, but as he points out Kelly doesn’t pretend
to have the final word on that issue, he merely presents
these seven men as a worthy cross-section of the best and
bravest during that period of time, and as does so with
descriptions of their exploits that are first class.

I think Kelly would agree with me when I say that it’s often
difficult to separate fact from fiction when one is writing
about men from that era, but I believe he’s made every
effort to do that, and makes a point of calling into
question certain details that have been written about these
men over the past century. I strongly recommend the book and
endorse it as a well researched and entertaining piece of
work. As a collector, my only real complaint is that the
book isn’t available as a hardback.

The book was published by McFarland Publishing and is priced
at $29.95. It can be ordered from their website
www.mcfarlandpub.com or by phone via # 800-253-2187
.

Hitters, Dancers
and Ring Magicians

Callis description
--

Lavigne was sturdy and muscular in build; He was very quick and
a hard hitter; His power far exceeded his size; He was rough and
durable; His reach was 64 1/2 inches; Lavigne was inducted into
the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1959 and the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998